03/05/18 03/05/18 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from pacifica, this is democracy now! >> i don't think i know a teacher that does not work a second job. at all. every teacher i know has at least two jobs. some have three. i know what teacher who has six other jobs. amy: school across west virginia are closed for an eighth day as than 23,000 teachers and staff remain on strike demanding higher wages and better

healthcare. it is the biggest strike in years. plus teachers and oklahoma are launching their own strike. then to the oscars. >> on oscar night, this is the dream we tell. freedom dwells. immigrants get the benefits. we put up monuments for the feminists tell the nra they and god's way. to the people of parkland, we say -- sentiments of love the people from africa, haiti, the puerto rico. amy: as common denounces of thee nra at the oscscars, mexican directoror guillermo d del toro takes home the night's two biggest prizes -- best picture and best director for his film "the shape of water." while the #metoo movement has rocked hollywood, women won just

six oscars this year compared to 33 men. we will speak to april reign, , andor of #timesu #oscarssowhie soraya chemaly. all of that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. in syria, thousands of civilians are fleeing a government-led offensive against suburb of eastern ghouta outside the capital damascus. more than 600 civilians have been killed in recent days by syrian government air strikes and artillery firing in recent days. human n rights activists are accusing the syrian government of waging a scorched earth campaign against civilians in the suburb, which is controlled by anti-government rebels. the syrian government, backed by russian air power, is waging the offensive in violation of a u.n. security council ceasefire and a daily five-hour ceasefire brokered by russia, which is the

syrian government's main backer. on sunday, syrian leader bashar al-assad said he would continue the offensnsive. >> the humanitarian situation, which the west speaks of fromm time to time, is a very ridiculous line, as ridiculous as the western officials who repeated. there's no contradiction between a truce and a combat operation. the advancement achieved yesterday and the day before, took place in midst of this truce. amy: the united nations' high commissioner for human rights, zeid ra'ad al-hussein, says the syrian goverernment's military offefensive in eastern ghohouta likely constitutes war crimes anand crimes against humanity. >> once again, i must emphasize that what we're seeing in eastern ghouta and elsewhere in syria are likely war crimes and potentially crimimes against

humanity. civilians are being pounded into submission or death. the perpetrators s of these cris that they're being identified. amy: in the united states, president trump has praised chinese president xi jinping for consolidating power and doing away with presidential term limits, saying -- "he's now president for life. i think it's great. maybe we'll have to give that a shot some day.y." cnn reports trump made the comments during a closed-door meeting with republican donors at trump's private mar-a-lago resort in florida. speciaial counsel robert m muelr is reportedly investigigating whether the trump administration's middle east policy has been swayed by money from the united arab emirates and whether this money inspired president trump to endorse a uae and saudi-led blockade against qatar. mueller is reportedly focusing on businessman george nader, an adviser to the ruler of the united arab emirates, who frequently visited the white

house last year. reports have surfaced that trump's son-in-law and senior adviser jared kushner's father directly asked qatar's minister of finance to invest in the kushner companies' critically didistressed property 666 fifth avenue. qatar refused to invest in the property. that was in april 2017. only one month later, jared kushner encouraged the trump administration to back the saudis and emiratis in the blockade against qatar, despite the opposition of secretary of state rex tillerson. the senate is slated to roll back key financial regulations passed in n the wake of the 2008 financial crisis. a new bill, which will come up for a procedural vote this week, would exempt 25 of the nation's 40 largest banks from being subject to heightened scrutiny by the federal reserve. if it passes, it would be the biggest weakening of the dodd-frank act since it was signed into law in 2010. at central michigan university,

a 19-year-old student shot and killed his parents inside his dorm r room after theyey had ard to pick him up for spring break. the shooting sent the campus into lock-down mode. it was the 12th school shooting so far this year. authorities say the alleged dorm room after they had arrived gunman, james eric davis jr., had been sent to the hospital the prevevious day for erratic behavior. in florida, the state senate met for a rare session saturday, in which lawmakers voted down a proposal to ban assault rifles in the wake of the february 14 massacre at the marjory stoneman douglas high school in parkland, florida, in which 17 students and teachers were killed. the florida senate did vote to spend $67 million to train teachers to carry guns, with the aim of putting 10 armed teachers into every school in florida. the vote saturday on proposed amendments to the marjory stoneman douglas high school public safety act.

the full bill is expected to be passed by the state senate today and then be sent to the florida house. record-breaking snow storms battered parts of europe, canada, and the united states, where at least eight people were killed amid the blizzards. canada's eastern province of ontario saw the heaviest snowfall in nearly two decades. parts of europe experienced temperatures colder than at the north pole, which is currently experiencing unprecedented warm temperatures. researchers say the extreme weather is likely linked to climate change. in italy, voters went to the polls sunday for a parliamentary election which far right parties scored big wins. no one party won a majority, however, meaning italy will now face weeks of negotiations aimed at forming a coalition government. israeli soldiers shot and killed a palestinian farmer on his own land in the gaza strip, near the border with israel on saturday. meanwhile, in washington, d.c., hundreds of people gathered sunday to protest the annual policy conference held by the american israel public affairs committee, better known as aipac.

as prime minister netanyahu comes to the united states. back here, schools across west virginia are closed for an eighth day as more than 20,000 teachers and school staffers 13 remain on strike demanding higher wages and better healthcare. the strike, which began on february 22, has shut down every public school in west virginia. teachers are demanding a 5% raise and a cap on spiraling healthcare costs. we will go to west virginia for more on the strike after headlines. an expose a -- an expose by buzzfeed has revealed more than 300 officers with the new york police department have been allowed to keep their jobs, despite having committed fireable offenses, including using excessive force against civilians, driving under the influence of alcohol, selling drugs, and sexually harassing fellow officers. the investigation is based on hundreds of pages of internal police files, covering offenses

committed from 2011 to 2015. in slovakia, thousands of people took to the streets in cities across the country friday to protest the killing of prominent investigative journalist jan kuciak and his partner. at the time of the murders, kuciak was investigating tax fraud by people associated with slovakia's ruling party. slovakia's president has called for snap elections, in the wake of the killing. and the 90th academy awards were held sunday night, where mostly of the boards with two white men, despite years of activism demanding increased racial and gender diversity and representation in hollywood. the awards show came on the heels of the industry-shaking #metoo and #timesup movements, which shook hollywood when dozens of actresses came forward to accuse hollywood's most powerful movie mogul harvey , weinstein, of rape, sexual assault, and harassment that stretched back for decades. during sunday night's awards, many presenters celebrated immigrants, diversity, and women's movements. this is lupita nyong'o and

kumail nanjiani presenting the award for achievement in production design. roomke everyone in this and everyone watching at home, we are dreamers. we grew up dreaming of one day working in the movies. trains are the foundation of hollywood. and dreams are the foundation of america. [applause] >> to all of the dreamers out there, we stand with you. [applause] amy: one of the most powerful moments of the night was when rapper common and musician andra day took to the stage to perform the song "stand up for something" from the film "marshall," about the first black supreme court justice, thurgood marshall. this is common speaking at the performamance's opening. >> on oscar night, this is the dream we tell a land where dreamers live in

freedom dwells immigrants get the benefits we put up monuments for the feminist tell the nra they in god's way and to the people of parkland, we say shake sentiments of love for the people from africa, haiti, to puerto rico. amy: common and andra day were joined on stage by black lives matter co-founder patrisse khan-cullors, #metoo founder tarana burke, and legendary civil-rights activist dolores huerta. planned parenthood cecille richards. despite the displays on stage, many of the night's top winners were still white men. among the exceptions come the film "get out" which won best original screenplay for its writer, the director jordan peele, the top winner of the night was "the shape of water" which won best actor and best director award for its mexican director guillermo del toro. we will have more on the sears oscars and why the oscars are still so white and male later in

the broadcast. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. juan: and i'm juan gonzalez. welcome to all of our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. schools across west virginia are closed for an eighth day as more than 20,000 teachers and 13,000 school staffers remain on strike demanding higher wages and better healthcare. the walkout, which began on february 22, has shut down every public school in the state across 55 counties. it is the largest walkout strike in years. teachers are demanding a 5% raise and a cap on spiraling healthcare costs. over a week, teachers have been rallying outside the state capitol in charleston urging lawmakers to approve a pay raise , but the state senate and house have failed to come to an agreement. amy: senator bernie sanders praised the strike teachers over the weekend tweeting -- "100 years ago west virginia

coal miners helped lead the struggle for fair wages and dignity on the job. today, the teachers of west virginia are carrying on that brave tradition. i stand with them in their fight for justice and dignity." we are joined now by two guests. jay o'neal is a middle-school teacher and a union activist in charleston, west virginia. mike elk is the senior labor reporter at payday report. he also writes for the guardian. elk has been covering the west virginia teacher strike extensively. his most recent piece is titled, "west virginia teachers' strike fever starting to spread to other states." we welcome you both to democracy now! jay o'neal, let's begin with you and trust in, west virginia. why don't you lay out the scene right now. why teachers and staff have been on strike for eight days. morning. yes, we have been on strike for eight days. .his goes back years

starting salaries for teachers here with a bachelors is about $33,000. the biggest root issusue of everything is our insurance. the acronym is peia. it stands for public employees insurance agency. basically, our state government has not been funding at adequately for years. new cuts. there are public hearings are every november and they basically tell you how much worse the insurance is going to get. this year the proposed moving to something called total family income. premiums on the income of everyone in our family. for instance, my spouse has another job and so they would base not just on my income, but her income as well, which meant my premium is going to double. there are a lot of teachers who both of them work in the school system, and they were going to see there's double, too. i think people have just had enough and have decided they're not listening to us when we try to lobby and call, so we have

got to do something big. we have got to walk out to get them to listen. this is ao'neal, wildcat strike. could you talk about the laws in terms of striking in west virginia and the role of the union leaders? as i understand it, there are two teachers unions that represent different portions of the workforce in west virginia? sure. we don't have collective bargaining here for teachers. a teachers don't have to join union. we have two unions, the west virginia education association and the mac and federation of teachers. -- and american federation of teachers. you might in one school have teachers a member of one or other or neither. without collective bargaining, we don't have the right to strike is public employees. people just felt like they did not have any other option. in west virginia right now, we have over 700 unfilled vacancies as far as teaching positions.

without, who are they going to replace us w with? at this point, we don't like we have a lot of other options. juan: in the absence of an organized effort by the unions, how are you able to pull everyone out across the entire state? how did thatat happen? >> sure. a lot of organizing early on happen on facebook. people connected over this grievance with the insurance. as things began to build and develop, some of the southern counties, which historically is where our labor militancy has decided to do a one-day walkout, and i think that really spurred the rest of the counties on. we watched it. some of it was livestreamed. it kind of motivated the rest of us to say, we want to take a step, we want to make an impact like they have, too. the unions didn't come together and kind of call for a statewide walkout. i believe that was february 22. third --s thing

current wildcat, they had basically met with the governor after i guess four days of the strike and said, we have an agreement worked out, 5% pay raise. we will freeze the insurance and we're also going to put a task force together to figure out a way to keep the premiums from going out and try to fix it. i think the teachers at this point just were cynical. we have seen this happen before with our government and we said, we are staying out until we see know itit hasnd we all gone through. amy: i want to go to one of the striking teacher speaking outside the state capitol. >> i don't think i know a teacher that does not work a second job. every teacher i know has at least two jobs. some have three. and i know what teacher who has six other jobs. ,my: so let's bring in mike elk who has been working on this reportingeginning --

on this from the beginning. with this in the broader context and where the legislature went back last week on what the agreement was. up in westy, i grew virginia. .y father was an organizer i work as an organ united's are myself after -- union organizer myself after college. there's a real history, big mass walkouts of this type to affect large-scale change. it is something that people remember. something a lot of these teachers saw their parents generation do. in 1969, there's a huge walkout of 40,000 coal miners striking for black lung benefits, disease that at the time the government was denying them benefits for. so there has been a history of these successful mass scale walkouts throughout west

virginia going back decades. and it is something that lives in the political consciousness of that state. however, what we're seeing here, we have not seen in decades in any state in america, which is really an entire state going out on a wildcat strike. the closest comparison i have seen of this was in 2011 during the wisconsin capitol occupation when teachers all over the state went out on strike for two days against the scott walker antiunion bill. however, after two days, they went back in. we're really in unchartered territories in terms of recent labor history. and it is not quite clear when this wildcat is going to end. right now the state legislature and the governor's office are trying to pass a bill that would raise pay by 5%.%. currently, the state senate papassed a bill that would raise pay but only 4%. it will go to conference committee today. it is unclear what will come out of that.

however, even if they just pass the paper is is, it is not clear that teachers will go back in. the main issue and the sticking point has been fixing me peia insurance program, the one talked about earlier. currently, the governor of the state is proposing increased tax on natural gas to pay for that. however, the republicans in the state legislature and their allies in the fossil will industry are dead set against an increased tax on natural gas. so this could all easily be fixed if there was just a tax on natural gas. however, it does not appear the traditional fossil fuel industries in west virginia want to see that go through to end this teachers strike. juan: mike, you talk about the unchartered waters are in in terms of the labor movement nationwide, but there is also the teachers in oklahoma are very close to potentially going on strike. could you talk about the ripple effects even the fact that teachers across america have been under assault the conservative forces now for years, that t this might have,

that the was virginia strike may have? here inright pittsburgh, which is about 45 minutes from the west virginia border. thatw last week the effect west virginia was having. the pittsburgh federation of teachers devoted to strike last monday -- voted to strike last monday. , the school district had full did in giving them everything they wanted. we are started to see that effect already play out in pittsburgh. in neighboring states to was virginia, in kentucky, as well as in southwestern pennsylvania, there has been talk of striking in districts where the g governr jim justice owns money. the billionaire governor of was virginia is also one of the largest landowners and coal owners in the state. he owns something like $15 million taxes and six different states. there has been talks in counties in the neighboring states where he owes money come of striking a solidarity to once they sign. it looks like there's a lot of

talk in oklahoma of striking sometime in early april. this is certainly inspiring a lot of action. it is particularly interesting because it is coming at the same time as the walkouts over the parkland massacre. we're getting to this period were people really get a sense of walking out. as a teacher who was talking earlier, social media is really reinforcing this and breaking through the way people talk. you can see photos day after a day on social media, and it really reinforces the sense amongst people that are striking that they have a lot of support, that they know their neighbors have their backs because they see their neighbors posting that. in west virginia right now, i think the teachers are blown away by how much public support they have. i don't think the governor has moved in a major way to seek injunctions because he knows it would fire at himim politically. amy:y: let's go t to an oklahoma schoolol teacher speaking at a board meeteting. >> onene out of five oklahomoma

school disistricts have been forced to adopt a a four-dayay school week. in 2017 study, it s sho teachchs leave e the state on average receceive a $19,000 incrcrease. tonight wewe are especiaially re for a a superintenendent who is standing u up for our teacherssd students. we stand alongside o our ministy to leadershihip in calling for restororation of proroper fundig for our public schools. unless oklklahoma receives a miraculous windfall to fix the bealems that we face, the is calling for the suspension of classes so we y pepetition ourur state lawmakers to repair the damage done over the yeaears o f fiscscal responsibility. we did it in 1990 and we are ready to do it again. amy: we're going to go to break and then come back to the activism that is taking place in this country and we're going to go to britain where lecturers are striking across the country.

we have been speaking with jay o'neal, middle school teacher on strike, in charleston, west virginia. we will continue with him and mike elk who is writing all about it but also grew up in west virginia, of payday report. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: andra day and common singing about the first black supreme court justice thurgood marshall. they were joined onstage by black lives matter co-founder, refugeeounder, a syrian child, cecille richards, the head of planned parenthood, and others. this is democracy now! i am any

my goodmanan with juan gonzalez. thousands atritain, over 60 universities have an gagaging and strtrikes another labor actionons to demand fair pensions. the actions began on february 22. we now go to cambridge or we're joined by priya gopal, university lecturer at the faculty of english at cambridge who is participating in the academic strike. she is a member of the university and college union. welcome to democracy now! could you talk to us about strike and how it has s unfolded at the various universrsities aroundnd the u.k.? would like tol, i send solidarity on behalf of the university teachers in britain who are striking to our colleagues and coworkers in west virginia.

we have been on strike as well since the 22nd of this momonth. academics in britain are not hugely well-paid, but what we have been able to expect in recent decades is a modest guaranteed pension. in recent years, this has been subjected to erosion. but the newest proposal, which has come to us from the actually offer a very damaging scenario in which many of our -- as stand to lose at least half of our expected pensions. in other words, we would be ining quite serioious poverty our old age. just to give you a sense of the numbers, a young lececturer starting outut now who wouould retire say 3 35 years from now, could be expected to get about $30,000 in eququivalent intentis

after paying into her or his pension for a lifetime. if the newew proposals go thror, they would earn as little as $14,000, $15,000 year, and this would be afterer paying into a pensnsion fund 35 years of service. this is not, in many cases, would be well below a living wage. amy: and talk about -- you mentioned the solidarity. what we're seeing now from britain, how you are keeping in touch with the striking teachers and staff in west virginia, which we are going to be talking more about, the staff joining the teachers and then the word of possible strikes and plplaces like oklahoma. in youru suggested report, , social media has been quite crucial toto this. we were very, very heartened to see that striking teachers in west virginia posted a picture

a t themselves sending us message of solidarity. there's a connected awareneness noof britainin and i i think in amererica t that these struggle, whwhich are really againinst the roshan of the publicic sector which are really a against the erosionn of the idea of educatin as a public good that these are in fact shared struggleles. in manyy ways, the enemies we faface are fundamentally ideoeologicacal. they are people in this country anand in that want to takak educatioion away fromom the pubc sector as a shared g gd that all people shouldave access to. a privatized commodity. i should remind d you, inritain, historically, the unerersity ctoror h been a publicectotor til ququit rently, , udents di not pay feeat allll in rent years,e haveeen

es fir be impod and ione movememe in 2010,espite prests, beg tripd. this ipractilly overnit. i ink ththeris a a rl sensin brbritn that is is atruggle to keep the prision n educioion bothn schoolsnd in colleges publi gd tt everody shshld he accesso. and think at o our colleagues inas vgiginia rognini thi and thealso recognizehat universityeachers d school teacrs work tremel harand serve a ry basic pay a peion as emy them ifor the work thathey do. an: yourtrike iludes not only theecturersbut ao searcherand othe workers, itrarians and others, but does not have 100% support. there are many professors and others who are not striking. could you talk about that, the divisions that exist among the

workforce? also, the response of the government to the strike? >> yes. britain'sok, we live post-thatcher. factors assault on unions and the fact of unionizing is a legacy that this country still grapples with. only about half of the university workforce is unionized at all. have is true that classes not come to a complete halt. there are people continuing to teach or do their work. it on the other hand, this is the single biggest strike in the education sector, higher education sector, that we have seen in its history. actually hearartening is that the e number of people o are not inin the strike, bubut y increasing number of peoplple wo are e joining the union and participating in the industrial action. and i think that given the

legacy of antiunion rhetoric and antiunion n politics in this country, it is quite remarkable that atypically nonconfrontational sector like the professoriate is coming out in force onto the picket lines and into withdrawing the labor until such time as uniniversitis u.k. decidides to come and retan the benefits that we are entitled to. i should also say that the proposed changes are very clearlyy mainly ideological. there been p proposed on the bas of a h he deficit that i i completely specucutive projection. the pension scheheme is actually in good h health. the cutare baseseon politics or t t entire stor gogo under. i think erere's s a cognition acrossheectotor, amongst the stent bodynd with many mberers theublic,hat whaha

we're up agait t is a idlogical project aacacking nsions aervices and tryi totoind of privati the rk ther than r the eloyeye to carry itnn as historically has been the case. amy: a want to go to an excerpt a video introducing the university and college union strike of british academimics ad resechers and librarnsns and ststaf aoss four action weeks. duringhis timestaff wi not teachg, giving office hours,r marking. step will lose as mu as 4 o of thr pension, but management refuseso o budg or even bargain. >> this dispute not pensions, bubut al marketization. dents are ying masve fe. amy:efore weo back to lk about whatore is hpeningn

westirginia,riya gopal, how s the itish gornment respondeand what a youour plans? at is e e timeble forhis rike? >> currently, the g government s simply taken the stance that talks are good. in fact, i think one of the successes of the strike so far ,s that the universities u.k. from having taken a very intractable situation, has n now agreed to o come to the table ad talk. talks are starting today. university lecturers are really not going to settle for vague promises of talking. we have a very clear goal in mind, and that is the e retentin of our right to define benefits as was promised in our pension packages. contitie wellduled to to next week. that we all brk k for eaer a and term backn thee easteter

atat the end of f april and mam. if therere ha't bebe substananal changege, substantial progress made on the talk, then, as y y just heaeard ithe vivideo,e will continue on to a mararking boyct at which exams will not be marked and students will be able to graduate because they won't be marked. i should say alslso that we h he tremendous amomount of suppoport from students. we o of seen extrememely m moven e forms of emails, lters, petions to theice chcellors anto the governmement, as well as literay coming and standing with us on the picket line. amy: last week, democracy now! spoke to randi weingarten, president of the amerco federation of teteachers about what is happening in west virginia, the teachers and staff strike there. >> there's no collective bargaining and west vivirginia. so it is whatever we lobbied the legislature and the governor and speak,to a deal, so to

of increasing salaries by 5% this year. it is not enough because of what west virginia teachers make and they need to make more. and to actually freeze the premiums for about 18 months. the problem is, the bills have not actually gone through a very hostile house and senate, and no one trusts the governor. so until some of these bills go through and there is a task force that actually takes on these huge premium hikes over the long-term, you have a lot of confusion. juan: that was randi weingarten. . want to go back to jay o'neal this whole issue of west virginia being in the forefront historically of labor strikes, many of the teachers of today, children, or grandchildren of mine workers in was virginia.

can you talk about this sense of history that the teachers are participating in and what you expect to happen in the next few days? >> sure. if eusebius or clips of people here, you will see a lot of teachers wearing red bandannas around their neck. that kind of goes back to some of the early history here of labor activism. the west thing called virginia mine lords that culminated in a something called the battle of blair mountain, which is the largest armed uprising in the united states history outside of the civil war . a lot of the miners wore red bandannas around their neck. some people think that is where the term "redneck the school came from. you are thing that memory here and that is coming up again. list every west virginia and knows somebody was been on strike. as, grandparents, friends, and some uncles. somebody. it is a rich history here and people know what it means to be

on strike. as far as what happens next, basically, we have an executive forr for a task force insurance. as randi weingarten said, we're hopeful they can get the costs under control. the biggest issue right now is the 5% raise. the senate lowered it to 4%. the house that, no, we still want 5% and the governor said he supports 5% so we are waiting on a conference committee right now. it could be meeting a at any tie to try to iron that out and hopefully give us the 5%. amy: i want to read the tweets of the acclaimed author barbara ehrenreich tweeted -- "a lot of children depend on free school lunches, so the west virginia teachers made food packages for them before going on strike and have continued to try to feed them. this is our dystopian welfare state: severely underpaid teachers trying to keep poverty-stricken kids alive." this is quite amazing

poverty-stricken kids alive.". as you sit there and the capapil building, and the reception area, what do you see happening? eight days outcome over 270,000 kids not going to school now, 30,000 teachers and the staff that are supporting you in this. >> we have had a lot of community support. as she was talking about, teachers all over the state have worked to make sure kids are not going hungry. at my school, something like 70 backpacks of food were sent home, we also sent home flyers for churches and community centers that had organized food and meals for them. we're in.e state we're in a high poverty staples that most of our kids depend on breakfast and lunch coming from school. we're in a situation where we feel like st teachers we still have to make sure our students are being fed during this time.

one want to ask mike elk question. west virginia obviously is generally known these days as trump country, yet the president has not made any statement about what is going on in west virginia. could you talk about that? >> i thinknk it is interesting, this idea of trump country. because while a lot of these folks at the top of the ballot have been voting republican, down the ballot they still vote democratic. even if you get to southwestern pennsylvania nearby, you hear a lot of socially conservative folks who are still socially conservative with the national party, but so very economically populist. i think trump knows the amount of support the teachers are getting, that he does not want to go against his days in the situation because, you know, i don't know the breakdown necessarily of where all of the's teachers voted, but was virginia did vote by nearly 70% for donald trump. so for him to not want to talk about this shows you he is

really scared of taking on unions had on. he is obviously taking on unions and a backdoor approach at the nlrb and c congress and in other waways, but t he doesn't t wanto a full scale scott walker assault because he knows that is his base in places like ohio and pennsylvania in michigan and wisconsin. amy: we're going to leave it there by continue to follow the strikes. jay o'neal is a middle-school teacher on strike charleston, in charleston, west virginia. mike elk of payday report. and priya gopal speaking to us from cambridge, university lecturer at the faculty of english at cambridge who is participating in the academic strike. when we come b back, last night the oscars. was it historic in this #metoo #timesup moment? sisix women win awards, 33 men. we will be joioined by the founr of #oscarssowhite. does that continue to be true?

stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: mary j. blige singing at the oscars from the film "mudbound." she made history last number of becoming the first person to be nominated for best original song and for best supporting actress. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. juan: the 90th academy awards were held sunday night where the majority of the awards went to white men, despite years of activism demanding increased racial and gender diversity in hollywood. the award show came on the heels andhe #metoo #timesup movement after dozens came for to accuse hollywood's most

powerfrful producer haharvey weinstein of rape, sexual assault, and harassment that spreads gates. chickene #metoo hollywood, women just won six oscars compared to 33 for men. amy: some notable winneronon ndayay included mexicadirector guillermo detotoro w tooook me e night to biggest prices, best picture best director for "the shape of water." jordan peele became the first african-american to win for best original screenplay for his film "get out." many celebrated. presenting.o close we would like everyone in this room, and in this room, we are joined her's. group dreaming of movies. dreams are the foundation of hollywood and dreams are the foundation of america. [applause]

>> to all of the dreamers out there, we stand with you. juan: one of the most powerful moments of the night was when dayer common and andra performed from the film "martial" about the first black supreme court jusustice thurgood marshall. this i is how common opened the performamance. >> on oscar night, this is the dream we tell a land where dreamers live in freedom dwells immigrants get the benefits we put up monuments for the feminists till the nra they in god's way and to the people of parkland, we say -- sentiments of love for the people from africa, haiti, to puerto rico amy: we're joined by two guests, of viralgn, creator

hashtag #oscarssowhite, and senior director of marketing for fractured atlas, a nonprofit arts service organization. soraya chemaly is a journalist who covers the intersection of gender and politics. she is the director of the women's media center speech project. april, you are up late last night -- i should say this money come as you tweeted for color of change. talk about your take on the oscars last night. >> it was an important moment for both the #metoo and #timesup movement. there's still a lot of work that needs to be done in front of and behind the camera where you had several hours of pre-oscar show with ryan seacrerest as the host and yet he has been accused of sexual assault. so one wonders why he would even be standing in front. we had gary oldman win last night and their allegations about him as well. there is still a lot to be done and there seems to be some ofonsistency with respect

who is pushed to the side and who is allowed to continue in their regular job. in addition with respect to the diversrsity of the nominees,s, jordan peele was the first black person and just the second person of color to win best original screenplay and 90 years. the fact that we're still talking about "first" is a problem. because what we know is representation matters and diversity cells. so if hollywood still chooses not to be more inclusive, more diverse both in front of and behind the camera, there literally leaving money on the table. , yoursoraya chemaly thoughts on what you saw last night and again there were many more african-american and latinos nominated, but not that many won this year and also the issue of how few women actually ended up winning awards? was ahink what we saw little bit of window dressing.

the oscar voters remain remarkably homogenous. so we're talking overnight a percent male, still more than three quarters white, and i think we see that reflected in the voting. i do think it is notable, for example, there was the first -- the best film winner had a female antagonist. it is not lost on many of us that she actually was a character that did not speak, which is somewhat ironic in the time of #metoo. >> amy: you're talking about "shape of water." >> yes. there has been this press. people like april and her organization in the women's media center and gina davis, many people are been talking about this for a long time. i think people are really fed up with this idea that change takes time and it has to be incremented because none of this is new information. these areoints out,

profitable films. we know that films that have , women casts protagonists, do well at the box office. it is not a matter of economics. we're talking about forcing a change in the culture, which i think remains recalcitrant. amy: it is really significant that television knows, the media ands what sells, as april you were talking about, diversity. you could see that in the performances. in fact, the entire production, this multicultural extravaganza. but if you look very carefully at it, the people who are actually coming up to win, the people representing them are people of color and women, but one after another, it was white men. and the image of oscar himself, the award. i want to turn to frances mcdormand who took home the best actress oscar for her role in "three billboards outside ebbing, missouri," about her

daughter who was raped and killed. that is what the film is about. this is frances mcdormandd rereceiving her oscar. >> if i may be so honored to have all of the female nominees in every category stand with me in this room tonight, the actors. you do it, everybody else will. the filmmakers, the producers, the directors, the writers, the cinematographer, the composers, , the, the, the diners. come on. ok, look around. look around, ladies and gentlemen. because we all have stories to tell the projects that need to be financed. don't talk to us about the parties tonight. invite as and your office in a couple of days or you can come to hours, whichever suits you best. we will tell you all about them.

i have two words delete with you tonight and ladies in german, inclusion writer. amy: is someone tweeted, the sound you're hearing right now is millions of people across the world typing the words into google. explain. >> inclusion writer is basically something with the person of power, typically an actor or actress can require in their contract so that either the cast or the crew will also be diverse or they will walk off the set. we saw the ad free larson on twitter this morning said she will require inclusion writer in all of her contracts. i think that is a wonderful idea. inclusion us on twitter have been talking by this for quite some time. i'm glad to you getting some play. it makes sense because what we aow is the more diverse

casting crew is, the better express for everyone and we want to ensure that stories are being told that represent the moviegoers and thehe tv watcher. ofn: i want to ask about one the oscars, one of the muscle pressing one, coley breadwinning for best animated short stunned a lot of people -- kobe bryant one for best animated short stunned a lot of people come also allegations of sexual assault. obviously, let's remember who the oscar voters are. they're overwhelmingly white and male and older. the oscars -- the academy sasays their r point to double the nunr of people ofof color in the numr women. we see that happening. the last two years, that had the most in use of an diverse membership rolls ever. -- inclusive and diverse membership rolls ever. kobe bryant isn't the first and will be the last accused of allegations and still it seems

to just brush off him. and he won that award. it feels a bit tainted. amy: let's ask soraya chemaly that very question about kobe, who was accused by hotel employee. this is well over a decade ago in colorado, of raping her. even said in his statetement, hs agrereement with her that he understatands she did not think this was consensual. testify in ad to criminal case, and there was a follow-up civil case and part of the agreement was that he would write a letter of apology in which he acknowledged that she did not understand that she was consenting. the description of what happened in a hotel room is fairly graphic. as april said, i think it is tainted and tainted in multiple

ways throughout the evening because gary oldman as well, for example, described by next wife is having assaulted her while swiss try to call the police. it is difficult to look past these allegations. they are quite vivid. them,ook place, both of in 2001, 2003 have believed. the art is a sense that of the individual, which is a long story in itself. these actions that they make. again, i think we really can't separate that from the industry's demographics and d te fact that this industry shapes narratives around power, consent, race, gender. it is not like other industries, except maybe news media in that way. shaper.culture it feels a bit like a slap in

the face when you see these two awards, for example, in a time when there is heightened awareness about these issues. juan: i want to turn to my rudolph and tiffany haddish who presented two awards at sunday night's oscars ceremony. >> of years ago, people were saying that oscars were so white and since then, some wrote progress has been made. >> but when we came out together, we know some of you were thinking, are the oscars to black now? want to say,t don't worry, there are so many more white people to come. >> so many. we just came from backstage, and there are tons of them back there. >> tons of t them. juan: your response? >> the oscars are still so white. i think you make a good point. the oscars are very deliberate. ago, remember two years chris rock was the host.

seemed to attempt to bring him in to placate people of color. but what we know time and again -- this is one of the reasons why i started a multicultural media resource directory. so that individuals on both dust of the camera and with a camera and the curtain are able to self identify in varies marginalized categories, including race, sexual orientation, gender, age, disability, and so on. very often we hear hollywood sayingng, we want to work with this particular community, we just can't find them. we know there are talented individuals out there, so this will provide the solution to #oscarssowhite. juan: the real jobs in hollywood, the actors are the window dressing, but there are thousands and thousands of jobs behind the scenes, behind the cameras. and those e are the ones that te industry obviously would need to

open up to as well, right? >> that is exactly right. everything starts on the page, for tv or film. so we need more diverse screenwriters to be able to tell their stories from their point of view. for example, we saw jordan peele last night when best original screenplay for "get out." this directory will allow screenwriters and boom operators and key grips and actors and actresses to sign up and then the studios and networks can choose amongst these various categories, for example, we saw last night to know the vega is a trans woman playing a transform and in the movie that won best foreign film and a fantastic woman from chile. that was important moment and i think it'll cost over it a little bit. .my: let's go to jordan peele so much to me. i stopped writing this movie

about 20 times because i thought it was impossible. i thought it was not one to work. i thought no one would ever make this movie. but i kept coming back because i knew if someone let me make this movie, people would hear it in people with cf. i want to dedicate this to all of the people who raised my voice and let me make this movie. my mother who taught me to love, even in the face of hate, and to everybody who went and saw this movie. everybody who bought a take it him who told somebody to buy a take its, thank you. i love you for shouting out at the theater, shouting out at the screen. let's get going. amy: we ended there with j jordn peele. we want to thank april reign, creator of the hashtag #metoo hash#oscarssowhite tag and journalist who

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